Biomaterial Database

Survey of family history on allergy in 1-year-old and 6-year-old children. 1996

H Mikawa, and Y Fukushima, and M Baba

Kansai Electricity Hospital, Osaka, Japan.

A retrospective survey of a family history of allergy employing a special questionnaire for children was performed. The survey included 1-year-old (n = 267) and 6-year-old children (n = 410) with allergies as well as 1-year-old (n = 313) and 6-year-old children (n = 329) without allergies. An 'Allergy Risk Score' (ARS) for each subject was calculated according to the history of allergy in three family members: father, mother and a sibling. Each family member was scored as 2.0 (overt history of allergies), 1.0 (provable), 0.5 (possible) or 0 (absent), and the ARS of the subjects was calculated as the total of the family members' scores. The ARS of children in the allergy groups was statistically higher than that of the control groups in both age groups. The ARS increased with an increase in the odds ratio (an approximate value of the risk), especially in 6-year-old children. An ARS calculated on the basis of family history could be a useful and practical index for estimating the risk of allergy development in children, and may be helpful in predicting and preventing allergies in infants and children.

UI	MeSH Term	Description	Entries
D006967	Hypersensitivity	Altered reactivity to an antigen, which can result in pathologic reactions upon subsequent exposure to that particular antigen.	Allergy,Allergic Reaction,Allergic Reactions,Allergies,Hypersensitivities,Reaction, Allergic,Reactions, Allergic
D007223	Infant	A child between 1 and 23 months of age.	Infants
D008297	Male		Males
D002648	Child	A person 6 to 12 years of age. An individual 2 to 5 years old is CHILD, PRESCHOOL.	Children
D005192	Family Health	The health status of the family as a unit including the impact of the health of one member of the family on the family as a unit and on individual family members; also, the impact of family organization or disorganization on the health status of its members.	Health, Family
D005260	Female		Females
D006801	Humans	Members of the species Homo sapiens.	Homo sapiens,Man (Taxonomy),Human,Man, Modern,Modern Man
D012189	Retrospective Studies	Studies used to test etiologic hypotheses in which inferences about an exposure to putative causal factors are derived from data relating to characteristics of persons under study or to events or experiences in their past. The essential feature is that some of the persons under study have the disease or outcome of interest and their characteristics are compared with those of unaffected persons.	Retrospective Study,Studies, Retrospective,Study, Retrospective
D016017	Odds Ratio	The ratio of two odds. The exposure-odds ratio for case control data is the ratio of the odds in favor of exposure among cases to the odds in favor of exposure among noncases. The disease-odds ratio for a cohort or cross section is the ratio of the odds in favor of disease among the exposed to the odds in favor of disease among the unexposed. The prevalence-odds ratio refers to an odds ratio derived cross-sectionally from studies of prevalent cases.	Cross-Product Ratio,Risk Ratio,Relative Odds,Cross Product Ratio,Cross-Product Ratios,Odds Ratios,Odds, Relative,Ratio, Cross-Product,Ratio, Risk,Ratios, Cross-Product,Ratios, Risk,Risk Ratios
D018570	Risk Assessment	The qualitative or quantitative estimation of the likelihood of adverse effects that may result from exposure to specified health hazards or from the absence of beneficial influences. (Last, Dictionary of Epidemiology, 1988)	Assessment, Risk,Benefit-Risk Assessment,Risk Analysis,Risk-Benefit Assessment,Health Risk Assessment,Risks and Benefits,Analysis, Risk,Assessment, Benefit-Risk,Assessment, Health Risk,Assessment, Risk-Benefit,Benefit Risk Assessment,Benefit-Risk Assessments,Benefits and Risks,Health Risk Assessments,Risk Analyses,Risk Assessment, Health,Risk Assessments,Risk Benefit Assessment,Risk-Benefit Assessments